


Fair Facade

by orphan_account



Category: Beauty and the Beast - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Angst with a Happy Ending, Genderbending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-27
Updated: 2016-05-27
Packaged: 2018-07-10 13:57:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6987802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maurice’s only child is different from the rest of them; more interested in books than the townspeople. His name is Ben.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fair Facade

**Author's Note:**

> Will be forever unfinished; up for adoption.
> 
> The non-con warning is for the Ben/Gaston interaction; it's never intended to be for the later Ben/Beast I Adam interactions (which hopefully someone else will write . . .)

_Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind. But then, one winter’s night, an old beggar-woman came to the castle, and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold._

_Repulsed by her haggard appearance, the prince sneered at the gift, and turned the old woman away. But she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within._

_And when he dismissed her again, the old woman’s ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress._

_The prince tried to apologize, but it was too late – for she had seen that there was no love in his heart. As punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast and placed a powerful spell on the castle . . . and all who lived there._

_Ashamed of his monstrous form, the Beast concealed himself inside his castle, with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world. The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose, which would bloom until his twenty-first year. If he could learn to love another, and earn their love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the spell would be broken._

_I_ _f not, he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time._

_As the years passed, he fell into despair, and lost all hope – for who could ever learn to love a Beast?_

* * *

 “Hey!”

Shocked by the sudden shout, Ben startled – in time for another body to slam into him, knocking him clear off the wide fountain ledge and into the gutter. The book went flying and his hands skidded over rough cobblestones, another body pressing him into the street.

“Got him!”

Struggling hard, Ben pushed at the person straddling his back, twisting with his shoulders and slamming back with an elbow, trying to push up off the ground. There was a yelp as he hit something soft, and an angry snarl. Ben kicked viciously, writhing to get free.

“Get his legs!”

Another body moved, slamming down on his ankles and settling heavily on him; the first man was leaning over him, pinning his arms far from the long knife at his belt. Panic flared in his belly, stealing his voice.

“Hello, Ben,” breathed hot into his ear.

_Merde._

A thick hand fisted in his hair, dragging his head up and bending his neck at a painful angle. Ben’s throat tightened. _Gaston._

“Well? Aren’t you going to greet me?”

Anger flushed through him, hot and overwhelming. “Hello, Gaston,” he gritted.

“That’s more like it.” There was a laugh in the other’s voice. “You know, you’re lucky I found you in the middle of town. I don’t know if I could have held myself back otherwise.” Gaston ground down heavily, and Ben could feel him against the small of his back. Bile rose, and he struggled to swallow it down.

The only thing he could do was go limp. Gaston liked it when he fought, and was less than pleased to be passively ignored. Which came with its own consequences.

The fist holding his head gripped tighter, shaking him hard. “You’re no fun, pretty.”

A wider, smaller hand crept up the back of his thighs to curl around his backside, groping greedily. Ben choked, and fought not to react. _Le Fou. Of course. Always hanging around Gaston’s heels like a dog._

Abruptly Gaston let him go, standing up and laughing lightly. The hand at Ben’s backside disappeared swiftly; Gaston would kill Le Fou if he thought the tiny man was poaching on his territory. As usual, he pushed himself upright in time to see Le Fou snatch up his book and skitter after Gaston, who was already striding down the village main street. The older man looked over his shoulder, smiled wide, and winked.

Deep inside, Ben shuddered – but he kept his face blank.

It didn’t matter, because Gaston was already flirting with the Pelletier triplets, who were equally blonde and equally stupid, swooning over the brute.

Ben turned away from the fountain, and slipped carefully into the small copse of trees that curved away from the deep forest, slashing across the edge of the village and dividing his father’s home from the thick cluster of houses. It was warm for late autumn, but he felt cold. As he passed deeper into the little forest, a trembling overtook him, so that by the time he reached his favorite tree he was shaking so hard he would fall if he tried to ascend.

_At least then I wouldn’t have to worry about Gaston anymore._

That, or he’d be crippled and unable to run.

Ben’s knees gave out, and he forced himself to take deep breaths. If he didn’t, he knew his body would rebel, lungs straining, vision narrowing, hands cramping and useless. It had happened once before – a year ago, the first time Gaston had noticed him as anything more than the crazy inventor’s son who lived on the edge of the deep woods. It was minutes of long breaths, huddling in the meager sunshine for warmth, before he began to feel something like himself again.

The first branch of the tree wasn’t in reach – he had to shimmy up until he was at twice his own height before he could curl an arm up and over, and then reach and grab, each handhold and foothold known by heart. The wind swayed him gently with the tree, leaves red and brown and golden but still thick enough to hide him. Not that anyone would be looking.

Father had left two days ago for the faire in Millau, leaving Ben to mind the farm. Short, stout, and utterly unimposing, Maurice Labelle was only a minor deterrent to Gaston’s forceful advances, but Ben missed him utterly. The townspeople, with the exception of Monsieur Vipond, thought him peculiar even as they marveled at his face. He might prefer reading books to conversing with them, but Ben was neither deaf nor dumb.

Ben had inherited his mother’s lithe height – which while more considerable than his father’s, was nothing near to Gaston’s hulk. He had inherited much of her features as well, or so his father told him.

It had brought him nothing but trouble.

The girls of the village paid him almost more attention than Gaston, which had inflamed the other into some sick combination of jealousy and lust. Five years’ difference meant that at barely twenty Ben had yet to grow into his potential, while Gaston had more than fulfilled his own. Given space and a bow, Ben could triumph easily – but in close quarters he was outmatched.

Now, he could not even be safe in the middle of town at midday.

_There must be more than this in life,_ he thought miserably, clinging tight to the rough bark.

But he couldn’t see it – not anymore than he could read the book Le Fou had taken from him. Maurice needed him to see to the practicalities of ensuring their small farm ran well enough for them to live, as he was embroiled in his experiments, working towards creating a new life for them. Ben prayed that his father’s latest invention, a lumber-saw that could do the work of four men, would be seen as an investment by a milling or logging company. It would be a blessing for him – a chance to escape Gaston forever.

But until that chance came, Ben was tied to their home and the village. And with his father absent, his only ally was a book-seller who never left his shop.

He stayed in the tree as the sun fell, forced out by the lengthening dark and the danger of descent after twilight. He completed his chores in the half-light of early evening, apologizing quietly to the goats who complained at late dinner, and corralling the chickens into the coop with a wary eye for foxes.

**Author's Note:**

> The premise is as follows: Maurice, Ben (Belle's) father is an inventor who has created an "automated" saw that runs off the power of a mill. He's touring the device to potential investors to try to sell it and make a better life for himself and his son, Ben, who is studious and intelligent. 
> 
> Ben, meanwhile, has to maintain their small homestead while Maurice is gone, and is stuck fending off Gaston and LaFeu's twisted bullying, brought on by (on Gaston's part) jealousy and repression. 
> 
> On the way back from meeting his final investor (a string of rejections behind him), Maurice gets lost going through what is the modern-day Cevennes National Park. He stumbles upon a castle, and takes refuge from a storm . . . 
> 
> When he doesn't appear or send a letter while three weeks overdue, Ben flees the homestead to look for him (also compelled in part by Gaston's escalating behavior). He traces his father's route backwards, trying to reach his last known destination as quickly as possible. When at the edges of the forest he learns at that his father never made it to the village that was to be his last stop before home, and hears tell of a castle in the woods . . . 
> 
> (Monsieur Vipond is the name given to the bookseller).


End file.
